


Sink or Swim?

by PolkaDot_BowTie



Series: Merformers AU [1]
Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One)
Genre: Day At The Beach, Female!Tailgate, Humanformers, I REGRET NOTHING, M/M, Merformers AU, Over a month, Rewind and Domey are too cute, Sorry if the layout is weird, They are so sweet it gives you cavities, lots of sleep, this took so long
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-22
Updated: 2019-09-22
Packaged: 2020-09-25 19:13:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20376697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PolkaDot_BowTie/pseuds/PolkaDot_BowTie
Summary: Rodimus is a young man that lives on the Island. He works with his friends: Ratchet, Nautica, Rung, Nightbeat and First Aid. They work together as volunteers at the 'Lost Light Met Rehabilitation Centre', and love every minute of it, but when the council threatens to close the centre, Rodimus tries to keep his favourite place open, with the help of a large blue Mer with a beautiful voice, can he save the Lost Light in time or will he be too late?Warning: Infrequent Strong Language and puppy-like Magnus ahead Sorry if the layout becomes a little weird towards the end, I couldn't figure out how to fix it.●This isn't finished, just being posted because Ao3 is pushy about dates●





	Sink or Swim?

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoy! To see all Mer designs, go and look at UniformShark on Tumblr, their Merformer artwork is beautiful.  
As much as I love Magnus from IDW, this version isn't as emotionally constipated, he can show emotions, still not loads though, just to stay loyal to the character!  
I'm sorry, Magnus is just one of those characters that I enjoy messing with. He's just too fun. If you don't like, don't read.

It was a glorious morning on the Island. The sun was blaring mercilessly on the inhabitants below, who were soaking up the weather whilst it lasted. Rodimus was one of said inhabitants, resting on a turquoise deck chair on the small plateau of the centre. He had a pale skin, face speckled with freckles. Thick red hair, messy and carefree. Rodimus, the sea-life-loving dork that he is, works at the 'Lost Light Mer rehabilitation centre', often shortened to just 'Lost Light' by the pod that lives nearby. Hands behind his head, sunglasses covering his eyes, a large grin spread across his face; he enjoyed the sunshine whilst it gently caressed his skin. Life couldn't get any better.

"RODIMUS!!" 

Spoke too soon...  
"Hiya Ratchet! How are you doing this beautiful morning?" Rodimus cooed, unwilling to let the doctor's foul mood to ruin his sun-bathing. Ratchet was the vetinarian of the facility, he would give the Mers that were brought check-ups and assist the local pod if needed. He was also a kind of manager for the place. He would keep it in check and deal with anything that needed taken care of, such as the paper-work. However, don't let this fool you, getting underfoot could land you a few sharp blows to the back of the head. 

"STOP LOUNGING AROUND!! WE HAVE WORK TO DO!!" Ratchet yelled from the office to the left, peeping his head out of the door for a few seconds before dipping back through the doorway. The years had been kind to Ratchet, his deep orange hair, having few grey streaks in at the side of his head. Only the scowling wrinkles on his forehead, since c'mon, this is still Ratchet we're talking about here.  
Sighing audibly, Rodimus took off his shades and sat up. He picked up his baseball cap and slipped it over his crown.  
"Throw the list at me, Ratchet. What chores am I put up for today?" Rodimus called, loitering towards the door to the office Ratchet had surfaced from  
Rodimus heard Ratchet give a small huff, and then rifled through some papers piled on his desk. Whilst digging through, to Rodimus, the sea of endless paperwork, a small file fell to Rodimus' feet. Picking it up, he opened it and saw what appeared to be a bill. Clearly and important one since it had the Island's council seal in the right corner. Just a bill, right? Nothing bad about it. Apart from the ridiculously oversized red stamp in the center of the paper that read 'UNPAID' in bulging letters. Ratchet quickly snatched the folder back as soon as Rodimus opened it.  
"Ratchet, was that important? Are we going to lose the centre?" Rodimus jittered, suddenly nervous for the Mers the centre inhabited.  
"It was nothing. Just leave it be," He said, clearly avoiding eye contact with the young man standing before him, "anyway, would you mind if you take charge of the fund-raiser in a few weeks? Something came up for Nautica and she had to pull out last minute."  
Rodimus, still stunned at the idea of the centre, his centre, HIS Lost Light, closing to become some other minimall or hotel for more blasted tourists, accepted Ratchet's offer for the fundraiser. He didn't even think about it. Didn't think about what he would do. Nautica was always the first to volunteer for this sort of thing. He couldn't worry about that now though, he had work to do. Leaving the office, he grabbed a full bucket from the shelves and headed down the stairs, towards the pools. The pools were kept below the first level to avoid the Mers being in the direct sunlight. It wouldn't help their wounds if the healing flesh was sunburned. However, they weren't kept from the outside world, a small artificial beach was on the plateau, available for anyone who was in the mood for a little R&R.

Walking down the stairs, hands tightly wrapped around the handle of the bucket, he made his way to Drift's pool. Drift was a grey, black and red swordfish Mer; one of the many breeds of Mer.  
"Hiya Drift, here's your breakfast, sorry it's a bit late." Rodimus said, dropping the bucket on the wet floor with a wet *thud* as the Mer made his way over the pool's edge.  
"Don't worry, Roddy!" Drift clicked and chirped as he began digging into his food. Turning to go back up the stairs, he heard a small *clatter* followed by "Crap" from further down the hall. He quickened his pace to a slight jog as he turned around. At the end of the hallway, he found Nautica, on all fours cleaning up paint cans and the contents they had emptied. She had, no doubt, been painting the feed buckets again. According to her, it 'gives them a unique and individual feel'. She would mix her own colours to mimic the colour palette of the designated Mer, patterns and shapes that speak to her. She would usually do it on the plateau, but recently, Ratchet told her to stop. Since she didn't want to stop, her 'creativity juices flowing', she resolved to doing it in secret, in a corner where he wouldn't see her.

"Naughty, naughty Nautica... Painting the buckets when Ratchet clearly said to stop." Rodimus sang as he waltzed over to her. Her head whipped around to stare at him, her hazel eyes wide with surprise. She made a small huff of amusement as she looked back down to continue to gather her materials.  
"What's up Rodimus? Or did you just come to tell me things I already know, and DELIBERATELY chose to IGNORE?!" She puts lots of emphasis on those last few words.  
"I was just thinking about going to the beach, would you wanna come with? I don't wanna go on my own, First Aid is busy and Ratchet... Ratchet's got his hands full." His hesitation made her look up.

"Sure, I'll come. We could take the entire team, pack a picnic... we could all do with a little time to be humans." She giggled.

"Nice! I'll see you and the others by my car in.. half an hour?"

"Sure! See you then!"

The entire team consisted of Rodimus, Nautica, Nightbeat, Rung, First Aid and Ratchet. The Lost Light was dependant on volunteers only, and nobody really wanted to work at a place that may or may not be on the verge of closure. The team got very little time to just be regular people since the Mers or the centre usually needed attention. This would be nice, just time to be people away from the stress of work. This would be nice...

~~~~~~X

Rodimus was already at his car when the others arrived, his pale skin visible against the finish of his Toyota Sedan. He was looking down at his phone, probably checking the time. By the time he looked up, they were by his side, towels carried by Nightbeat, the picnic they had packed by Rung and Nautica had the chairs, all four of them in swimming gear.  
She smiled and waved at him and they all got into the car.

He turned the key in the ignition and turned out of the centre's parking lot. A left, a right, a right and a left turn later, they were parking in a small space underneath a palm tree.  
They gathered their picnic and beach equipment and walked to the shore. The ocean was a beautiful cyan, reminicent of an Aquamarine. Smelling the sea air sucked the built-up tension out of Rodimus' muscles. The beach was practically empty, minus a few families and groups of tourists. They were probably looking for wild Mers. That's what the large majority of the tourists that came to the island spent most of their free time doing, Rodimus thought it was infuritating, the Mers obviously didn't want to be found so just leave them be! Goodness!  
He was pulled from his thoughts by a faint peeping sound. It was, in a way, heart-breaking. He didn't know why but the sound of it made his eyes water. He wasn't the only one to notice, either. He turned around to see Nautica holding her hands up to her mouth, cheeks red and puffy. Nightbeat seemed upset but nothing other than that, he was quite an impassive guy. Rung seemed distracted by something in the bushes.

"Quickly," he beckoned the others closer to his position, "look.."  
He pointed through the bushes to a large mass. It was big and... blue?  
Nautica was the first to step through the brush towards the unidentified creature. She kneeled down on one knee, extended her arm and gingerly touched it. A pained huff exited the being as it rolled from it's side to it's back and into Nautica's touch. She gasped as she saw it was a Mer. A large one, the biggest Rodimus had ever seen. They had large Mers at the centre, Springer being the longest, but this one was double the size of Springer, easily. A Whale cross maybe? The Mer moaned again, clearly in pain. That's when Rodimus noticed it was clutching it's right forearm, face scrunched up in agony. A flurry of scratches and bites littered it's body. Perhaps it was attacked? That wasn't important right now, though, this Mer needed to be taken to a safe place where it can heal. Nightbeat was the first to act, springing from his spot on Rung's left and grabbing his phone.  
He proded his phone, emitting a few beeps from the device before he spoke...

"Ratchet, we need help down here!" He cried into the microphone.  
Muffled murmurs followed before he continued.  
"We're at the beach, Liberty's peak. We found a large Mer that needs urgent medical attention." Rodimus turned around to check that the tourists hadn't heard Nightbeat, an action repeated by Rung.  
More muffled sounds on the other end of the line.  
"Okay, we'll see you soon, bye. Bye."  
Nightbeat ended the call just in time to hear the large Mer huff again. Rodimus turned to look back at Nautica, who now was sat on her knees, both hands gently petting the Mer's face and fins. Getting up, Rodimus walked over the be sat opposite from Nautica, petting the large Mer's fins that were protruding from it's hips, making them twitch slightly.

A distance whirring of sirens getting closer seemed to stir the wild Mer slightly, as it opened it's deep eyes. Electric blue accented by a black sclera seemed to shimmer against the golden sand. Rodimus felt his heart flip, butterflies playing with his insides.

"Rodimus!"

Ratchet again? Why does he always have to ruin these nice moments?

"C'mon, kid! I need help, this is a large Mer and if any of you think I'm gonna throw my hip out to get it back to the centre, oh hohoho..." Ratchet snapped his fingers and pointed at the Mer. Rodimus rolled his eyes and helped the others shift it onto an orange stretcher positioned to it's right. Grabbing the stretcher and pulling it with all his might, Nautica, Nightbeat and Rodimus managed to get the stretcher up high enough to push it into the Lost Light ambulance. It wasn't a 'people-ambulance', it had all the necessary equipment to help Mers. Ratchet and Rung hopped in and sped off.  
"Guess we'll go back in my car?" Rodimus said, rubbing the back of his head.

~~~~~~X

Pulling into the parking lot of the Lost Light, Rodimus grabbed his key and ran towards the door, now wearing a T-shirt with a flame pattern on the chest. Nautica was wearing a purple and yellow spring dress, flip-flops and a large straw hat, whilst Nightbeat was wearing an open turquoise shirt with large yellow palm leaves on it. Together, they ran to the double doors that opened to the lobby.  
Rodimus violently shoved the doors out of the way and looked expectantly at First Aid who was at reception desk, filling in some papers. Aid pointed down the hall impassively and said, "Down the hall to the left."  
Taking off again, Rodimus, Nautica and Nightbeat followed Aid's directions which lead the to the X-ray room; a large room with pastel blue walls and white tiled flooring. The large blue Mer was laying on it's back on an examination table head turned towards the door that the three of them had just barged through. Ratchet had his back to them whilst Rung was still stroking the Mer on the forehead. Rodimus rushed to the Mer's side, letting his hand graze it's muscular chest. Warm puffs of air grazed his arm as the Mer ex-haled.  
"What's wrong with it Ratchet? Is it okay?" Rodimus asked, gently stroking the large white fins that ran up the side of it's head.

"Nothing horrible, thankfully. Just a broken forearm and a few nasty bites, couple nasty scratches, hense the cast." He pointed to the white cast on the Mer's left forearm.  
"Must have gotten them during a fight." Ratchet concluded. 

"How could a Mer this size be beaten in a fight?" Nautica inquired.

"Mers are smart, they know to ambush others that could be a possible threat. Could have seen his size and been threatened, acting aggressive or not." Ratchet replied, still not detering his attention from his work.

A groan came from the Mer as it stirred. Opening those beautiful eyes again, it rolled onto it's stomach, flashing dazzling white speckles on it's tail to the people gathered in the room. A large dorsal fin stood in the center of it's back, the starting point of those white scales. It peeped and sniffed it's cast. Looking around, it saw Ratchet holding a scalpel, he was using it earlier on another patient, and when he turned around, it snarled. Baring those pearly white fangs, the Mer gripped the sides of the examination table. Rodimus slowly stepped forwards, getting the Mer's attention. He stayed calm, prompting the Mer to cease it's defensive rage. Rodimus kneeled down, so he was now face-to-face with the Mer, looking directly into those dreamy eyes, they were so beautiful. He brought up a hand and stroked the side of the Mer's head. It pushed into the foreign touch like a cat and it's tail began to wag. It made a noise reminicent of a purr, clearly enjoying the pets.  
When Rodimus pulled away, it looked disapointed, giving a huff of loss. 

"Sorry for cutting the pets short, but... what's your name?" Rodimus inquired.

The Mer huffed again and turned away.

"Look, if we're going to help you and get you back to your pod, we need to know your name. What's your name?" Rodimus questioned again, now becoming impatient and agitated.

The Mer looked him dead in the eye, flared it's gills and closed it's eyes. Then it spoke, "Ultra Magnus."

"That's your name? Ultra Magnus?" Rodimus replied. Ultra Magnus nodded.

"You may call me Magnus though" 

"Okay then, Magnus. I'm Rodimus, that's Rung, Nightbeat, Nautica and Ratchet. Nobody is going to hurt you. This is the Lost Light Mer Rehabilitation Centre, you were found hurt on the beach so we brought you here to rest and get better. I'm afraid you're gonna have to stay until everything has healed," he gestured towards the cast on Magnus' broken arm, "is that okay with you?"  
Magnus nodded again. 

"Just a bit of background info," Ratchet interjected, "you're not the only one here, we have about nine other Mers: Springer, Perceptor, Drift, Chromedome, Rewind, Blurr, Swerve, Skids and Tracks. They'll be in the pools neighbouring yours and they'll be in the communial beach on the upper deck, please be nice to them since they are recovering from injuries too."

Magnus nodded and said, "I look forward to meeting them," giving them a slight smile.

~~~~~~X

A pleasant, cool breeze blew through the palms as the evening sun painted the distant ocean a grapefruit pink. Rodimus was walking up the stairs from the Mer's pools. It had been an entire two weeks since Magnus had joined the residents of the Lost Light and he hadn't really socialised as much as he had suggested he would. He would just stay in his pool and groom himself, humming. Rodimus didn't really have time to worry about that though, he just figured Magnus was shy, nothing wrong with prefering your own company. The fundraiser was fast approaching and if he told Ratchet he couldn't do it either, Ratchet would have his head. He needed an idea. Fast. No matter how hard he tried though, he couldn't think of a good tourist trap that could save the centre. If this fundraiser didn't go well, the Lost Light would close, the people that it made happy would be upset and who knows what would happen to the Mers that lived there, some of them are unable to go back into the wild because of their injuries. It wasn't fair. That thought kept swimming around Rodimus' head. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair! As he sat down on a chair overlooking the ocean, more thoughts crept into his head. What about Magnus? Would he ever see him again? What about Springer? Chromedome? Rewind? Tracks? Skids? Swerve? Drift? Perceptor? How would they all fare in the wild after so long? Would they be okay? Would they find a pod? Would a pod want any of them after having so much contact with humans? He was suddenly pulled from his thoughts when a cool breeze made him shudder. It was dark. How had he stayed in a trance for so long? He check his phone. 20:02. What!? HOW WAS IT THAT LATE ALREADY?! He got up and put on his jumper, about to leave when he heard something. Someone was singing. It was... wonderful. 

"Hush now, my Storeen,  
Close your eyes and sleep,  
Waltzing the waves,  
Diving the deep."

As Rodimus got closer to the singer, the song continued.

"Stars are shining bright,  
The wind is on the rise,  
Whispering words of long lost lullabies."

'Whoever is singing is right behind this rock...' Rodimus thought to himself as he climbed over the boulder of the community beach. 

"Oh, won't you come with me?  
Where the moon is made of gold  
And in the morning sun  
We'll be sailing..."

Rodimus peeked over the boulder slowly and quietly, trying not to scare this gifted singer or make them stop. He didn't know who it was yet, but when he looked over the boulder, he saw a large blue tail. The singing continued,

"Oh, won't you come with me?  
Where the ocean meets the sky  
And as the clouds roll by  
We'll sing the song of the sea."

And the the singer continued some more,

"I had a dream last night  
And heard the sweetest sound  
I saw a great white light and dancers in the round  
Castles in the sand  
Cradles in the trees  
Don't cry, I'll see you by and by,"

Rodimus found himself putting his head in his hands and resting his elbows on the boulder, not watching but listening to this beautiful voice.

"Oh, won't you come with me?  
Where the moon is made of gold  
And in the morning sun  
We'll be sailing  
Oh, won't you come with me?  
Where the ocean meets the sky  
And as the clouds roll by  
We'll sing the song of the se-uh!?"

Rodimus was brought back to reality when the singing stopped and a startled stuttering and flustered noise took it's place. He opened his eyes, unaware that he had closed them to begin with and saw Magnus, face tomato red.  
"Wait? Hold on, hold on! That was YOU?" Rodimus waved his hands around as he tried to fathem this. Magnus seemed like such a stoic Mer, he barely showed any emotion and then to find that his singing voice could make angels weep with envy... whoa.  
"How did you learn to sing like that?" Rodimus enquired, eyes adjusting to the darker sky.

"My mother taught me, she was a siren and taught me to convey emotions through songs. I don't really like singing infront of others because it's embarrassing." Magnus replied.

*Lightbulb*

Rodimus had a 'lightbulb moment' as Nightbeat called them. If Magnus sang at the fundraiser, people might donate money, the Lost Light would get more visitors and then the council wouldn't be able to close the centre! It was fool-proof! Genius!

"Magnus! I'm incharge of the fundraiser next week, would you please, please, please sing at it!?" Rodimus pleaded. He was desperate, and since Magnus was a very neat Mer, he had seen Magnus organise the shells on the community beach into colours, size, shape, etc., so he could help him plan it!

Magnus seemed flustered, surprised at the sudden forwardness. His face went even more red, if that was possible, and he stammered and fumbled over his words.

"I- He- You- umm... Wha?" Magnus seemed confused as he rolled from the position he held on his stomach to his back, leaning up on his elbows behind him. "Why would you want me? You have tons of Mers downstairs and you have the radio. You can play music on those."

"But you're an incredible singer! If you could do the main vocals, we could get Springer, Percy and the others to do back-up vocals! I can set up stalls, we could do shows- you know, a chance for the show-offs downstairs to blow off some steam. It would be great, we can open a clothes bin, a place where people can drop off clothes that they don't want, we can fix them up, give them to you guys if they fit and sell the ones that don't fit!"

"I don't think that last one is a good idea..."

"We could still do it! Whaddya say??" Rodimus proposed.

".....Fine..." Magnus finally agreed. Rodimus victoriously jumped in the air before he realised he was still awkwardly positioned on the rock, stumbling forwards slightly. He steadied himself and continued, " Thanks Mags! Also, hope you don't mind me calling you that!" Magnus was about to say something when Rodimus continued, "Anyway, you should probably go to bed, it's late and your injuries won't heal as quick or as well if you're sluggish."  
Magnus nodded and started to scoot back to his pool through the entrance down the side. He turned back to look at Rodimus and said, "Goodnight." over his shoulder, prompting Rodimus to respond with "'Night, Mags."  
Magnus scooted back to his pool whilst Rodimus closed the centre, put on his jacket and drove home. He fell asleep that night, pondering, thinking of all the things he could do for the centre fundraiser, thinking of Magnus' amazing singing and all the preparations he would have to do tomorrow. Eventually, he allowed the powerful wave of sleep to claim him..

~~~~~~X

It was now the next day. Rodimus came in early today, skipping past Ratchet as he opened the front doors. He seemed unusually chipper as he ran towards the Mer's pools. Rodimus began whistling as he hopped down the hall, only to be shushed by the resident Mers. At first he was confused, usually when he whistled down the hall, the Mers would listen or join in, emitting whistles, clicks and chirps. What's with the change? Perceptor seemed to catch onto Rodimus' confusion, promptly pointing towards a pool across the path. Rodimus peered into the pool, confusion and slight irritation melting from his features as soon as he saw the scene before him. Magnus was curled up on the small shelf on the side of his pool. He was relaxed. Calm. Asleep. Content. Happy.  
"That's the first time he's actually slept properly since coming here." Perceptor said softly.  
"We didn't want you to ruin it for him." Springer added, looking at Percy.  
Rodimus smiled at the resident Mers' thoughtfulness, it was sweet and considerate. Magnus slowly began to stir, as if on cue, and yawned wide, bareing his pearly fangs. He rubbed his eyes and saw Rodimus, swimming over to his at the other end of the pool. Rodimus kneeled down as Magnus touched the pool's edge.  
"Have you told the others about your ultimate plan?" Magnus asked, voice raspy as he hadn't emerged from his sluggish daze yet.

"Morning to you too, Mags." Rodimus smiled. "No, not yet. I was waiting for you to wake up." Rodimus turned around to address all of the Mers.

"As you all know, Ratchet put me incharge of the fundraiser next week, well, you all get to join in if you want!" That elicited excited chirps and squeaks from his audience. "Who here has a good voice? We need a few back-up vocals for Magnus here. We need a few stunt-Mers and a couple comedians, whose up for it?!"

~~~~~~X

Rodimus smiled as he stroked Magnus' finials. Magnus was laying on his stomach to Rodimus' right whilst the human held a light blue clipboard with a piece of paper in his left. The piece of paper had the names of the Mers and their respective jobs for the fundraiser written on it's surface. The paper had the Mer, species and their job written in not-too-neat columns. 

Swerve - Flounder Male - Comedy act  
Skids - Barracuda Male - Stunt-Mer (Fancy flips and swimming)  
Tracks - Flying Fish Male - Stunt-Mer  
Blurr - Sailfish Male - Racer  
Drift - Swordfish Male- Racer  
Chromedome - Stingray Male - Back-up Vocals  
Rewind - Black and White Snapper Male - Back-up Vocals  
Perceptor - Red Arowana Fish Male - Informative talk about Mers  
Springer - White-tip Shark Male - Racer  
Ultra Magnus - Blue Whale Male - Main Vocals

It was now late, it took all of his day sorting out the Mers, doing his regular chores and then asking if Nautica would make the posters so he could hang them up. She said he could get them off her the next day. After a whole day of work, Rodimus was really tired, but it was the gentle hum of Magnus purring at the strokes he was receiving that had lulled him into sleep. He woke the next morning, still sitting against the rock on the community beach. Instead of Magnus' head under his hand, it was resting on his lap, tail protectively wrapped around his legs. Gentle huffs emitted from the whale Mer, he was obviously still asleep. The weather on a night was beginning to get colder, Magnus must have kept him warm since the only thing he was wearing were some shorts, a T-shirt and a thin hoodie with flames on the front. He checked his watch. 07:48. He had slept here the entire night!? Whoa... He couldn't move in fear of waking Magnus. Hmmm... he took his phone out of his pocket and called Nautica, she usually came in early to get a 'head start' on painting the feed buckets before Ratchet could stop her, it would take her a few weeks to finish one bucket, and then with Magnus joining the crew, she had another added to her ever expanding list. He rifled through his contacts, found Nautica's phone number and called it. It rung for about 30 seconds before Nautica picked it up.  
"Roddy? Why are you calling me this early, your not usually at the Lost Light for another 2-ish hours." She sounded puzzled.

"Come to the community beach, I need some assistance..." He couldn't hold the embarrassment from his voice.

After about 5 minutes, Nautica called out for him. "Roddy!?" She called, cupping her hands around her mouth to stretch how far her voice reached. 

"Down here," he said, looking up and waving his hand over the edge of the boulder he sat by. She came over, looking upon the scene before her, it was cute. Rodimus was bound to the floor as Ultra Magnus was sleeping on his lap, tail wrapped around his legs protectively. She gave a small smile of pity, then crawled over the boulder, trying not to hit either of the beings below her. She kneeled down, taking Magnus' head in her hands as gently as she could and placed it on a small mound of sand she made with her hands. He barely stirred. His tail subconsciously curled around himself as he adjusted to the new position, fins twitching. Rodimus huffed in relief as Nautica helped him to his feet.  
"Thanks, I thought I was going to be stuck there forever!" He vented. She giggled.  
"It's your own fault for falling asleep underneath him!" She whisper-shouted still very aware that the Mer was asleep and probably wouldn't appreciate being woken up. She gestured for him to follow her, and they left him on the community beach to rest. 

"I finished those posters you wanted." She said, guiding him into a small room off the hall the Mers' pools were. It was a relatively small room, a chest of white wooden drawers stood up next to the far wall. Paint supplies everywhere... She handed him a fat wad of papers, A4 posters in beautiful colours that ranged from raging red to a saturated blue, white text in a font that screamed 'casual but important'. Perfect.  
"Nautica you fragging star! These are perfect! I could kiss you!" He yelled, voice laced with joy. She beamed.  
"Thank you, but please don't..." She laughed awkwardly, pushing him away. Rodimus shrugged it off, waved her goodbye and went back to the stockroom to grab a hammer and a large box of nails. He ragged the equipment off the stockroom shelves and put them in his car, which was still in the parking lot from the night before, he would put up the posters later, currently he needed to give the Mers' their breakfast, since no doubt they would be hungry. 

Walking down with the buckets, Ratchet, Nautica and Rodimus gave the Mers their meals. All but Ultra Magnus. Ratchet was the one holding his bucket and gave a few infuriated puffs when he saw that Magnus wasn't in his pool.  
"Where is he?!" Ratchet asked, making his irritation very clear as he flailed his arms, the bucket by his feet at the pool's edge. Rodimus mentally kicked himself. He forgot Magnus was still asleep outside. 'Oh yeah..' He thought.  
"He's on the community beach outside. I fell asleep with him against my side last night, Nautica had to come rescue me.." He said, preparing himself for the lecture.  
Ratchet sighed and massaged the space between his brows.  
"Go get him, he has an appointment soon." Ratchet sighed. Rodimus nodded, leaving the medic and the other volunteer to their own devices. Waking Magnus would be... interesting, to say the least.

Rodimus started walking towards the community beach again, hoping that Magnus was still asleep so he could see that precious face... wait, what was he thinking!? Magnus was a catch, there was no doubt he already had a mate, and it was his job as a civil being not to get involved in an already existing relationship. Rodimus couldn't help but think of Magnus' possible mate.

'Lucky bastard...' he thought, trying to keep the grimace from his features.

Before he knew it, he was at the community beach, looking over the rocks trying to find that large blue-and-white Mer. Eventually, he found Magnus in the same place where he and Nautica left him. Only this time, he was so cute. Rodimus leaned down so he was sitting on his knees infront of Magnus' face. Grey freckles dotted his face, he looked so innocent. It was adorable, he and Magnus had more in common than he thought.  
"Maaagnuuss~" Rodimus purred, trying not to joilt the Mer, giving him an easy wake. He huffed and skrunched up his white face. Large white hands were brought up to his face and covered his eyes.

'He's so stubborn, good thing I'm stubborner! Waitaminute...' 

Rodimus tapped the large, solid cast still on Mags' arm, attempting to get through to the groggy Mer. By now, his attempts had attracted the attention of Nautica and Ratchet, who were sitting on the large rock Magnus was leaning against, watching Roddy's efforts to awaken him. Ratchet was growing impatient. Typical. 

"Magnus! I swear to god! GET UP, YOU HAVE AN APPOINTMENT IN 5 MINUTES!!!" Ratchet bellowed, face going a rosey pink. That startled him awake, getting up so fast that he hit Roddy with his head, who was leaning above, knocking both of them back. Rodimus hissed as the pain settled into his jaw, rubbing it comfortingly. Magnus yelped whilst Nautica elbowed Ratchet, face clearly showing that she wasn't impressed with his actions. He shrugged.  
"Good, you're finally awake. Now, hurry up, we need to check your arm and replace the bandages." Ratchet said matter-of-factly, closing his eyes and sticking his nose in the air. Nautica rolled her eyes and got off the rock, jumping down and heading to the pools below deck. 

By now, Magnus had come out of his rushed haze and realised he had hurt Roddy.  
"Oh my God! Rodimus, are you alright!? I'm so sorry, Ratchet yelled and-" Magnus was cut off when Rodimus put his hand on his cheek. A small smile stretched across rodimus' face as he saw how flustered Mags was, cute.  
He felt the tension melt from Mags in a single, drawn out huff, relaxing all the muscles in his body and pushing into Roddy's hand.  
"Ahem!?" Ratchet cleared his throat. He was still here?! Why!? Why couldn't he just go away?!  
Ratchet impatiently tapped his wrist, pointing to a-non-existant watch.  
"Whenever you're ready, Magnus, we have ALL the time in the WORLD!" Ratchet vented sarcastically. Magnus rolled his eyes and waved bye to Rodimus, who had now taken his hand off Magnus' cheek. Rodimus sat in the sand and watched Magnus scoot away with Ratchet to get his arm checked.

'Ratchet ruins everything!' Rodimus thought with a small whine escaping his lips.

~~~~~~X

"Alright, Magnus," Ratchet said finally, "shouldn't be long now before your arm is fully healed."  
Ratchet was carefully handling Magnus' limp and bare forearm. Magnus was back in the X-ray room, sat on the same examination bench that he sat on almost a month ago. The familiar room stayed the same, still smelled of the potent anaesthesia that it always has. They were both looking at the screen that showed the Mer's arm X-ray, the brake slowly healing.  
"Any colour preference for the new cast?" Ratchet asked, seeming to have calmed down from his little... outburst... from earlier. 

"No, but thank you for the offer, Ratchet."

"Alright, white's fine, then?"

"Yes."

Ratchet could feel the Mer fall into his thoughts, but the awkward silence that fell upon them was crushing him, so he continued...

"Magnus, what's your home life like?"  
Magnus seemed startled by the sudden mention of home. Ratchet felt him physically droop.

"What do you mean?"

"Your pod. What are they like?"

"...I don't have a pod.." Magnus wilted at the memories, "I was only a pup when it happened, but my pod was quite a large one, we were known as the Simanzi pod. I was with my carrier and sire, enjoying the sun on the surface, when we were attacked by poachers. Dozens of them. Barely anyone survived the attack, a few adults, a couple other pups and myself. My carrier and sire weren't so lucky. The day they died, I died too. There weren't enough of us to continue as a group, the rest of the pod was too small and we would only attract more attention to ourselves, so we split off. Adults claimed pups to take in and raise, but nobody wanted me. I struck out on my own, wandered the seas, looking for another pod, looking for shelter. I figured maybe someone would want me. I found a pod, but when I proposed the idea to join, they denied me, and attacked. I must have eventually passed out and, before I knew it, I woke up on a beach looking into blue eyes. I thought I was looking into that of my parents', I thought I was dead. In a weird way, it stung knowing I was still alive and had to wait to see them. It stung, Ratchet, it really did.." Magnus' voice was getting wobbly now, Ratchet looked up and saw thick, fat tears making their way down Magnus' pale freckly cheeks. Oh god... Magnus was part of the Simanzi massacre all those decades ago, a pup no less. He witnessed all the murder, poachers going after Mers, his family. Oh, oh no... Ratchet had finished Magnus' cast now, completely secure. He got up from the position he was in and wrapped his arms around Mags, offering any support he could as the large Mer sobbed and hiccupped in his embrace. It was a wonder he trusted any human, a miracle he hadn't tried to kill the people at the centre from day 1. "Magnus, I had no idea. You're safe here, nobody can get you. We won't let them." "What happened to them?" "Hmm?" "The poachers. *Hic* What happened to them?" "The poachers? They were caught and sentenced to life in prison." "How long is that? *sniff*" "In this case? 45 years, they can't hurt anyone.." "You promise?" "I promise." ~~~~~~X Rodimus had walked in after Magnus had calmed down. He had noticed Mags' puffy cheeks and red eyes, but saw that he had clearly been upset about it and chose not to pry. By now it was late afternoon, around 16:30, and he was about to go put up the posters around town and wanted to know if Magnus wanted to come. "But wouldn't I slow you down? You probably want to get it done, something less to worry about." "I'd rather do it with you, though..." "...okay. I could do with getting out anyway, can I Ratchet?"

The corners of Ratchets mouth perked up as he nodded, "I'll get a wheelchair and a blanket ready."

A few minutes later, Ratchet walked in with a yellow fleece and a large wheelchair that Magnus could push himself with. Together, Rodimus and Ratchet eased Magnus down onto the seat of the wheelchair and tucked the yellow fleece onto and around Magnus' tail. The fins on Magnus head twitched as Rodimus wheeled him out the door, calling a goodbye to Ratchet. Rodimus got the nails and posters out of his car and handed him approximately half, and they got to work. Poster, nail, hammer, repeat, poster, nail, hammer, repeat, poster, nail, hammer, repeat. Eventually they had finished and had ended up in a part of town that Rodimus hadn't seen in a long time.  
"Rodimus, how are we going to get back?" Magnus asked him.

"I know the way back, I have my phone. We can use the GPS on that. Don't worry-- Magnus?" It was at this point that he realised that Magnus wasn't listening, gazing into space, finials moving, indicating he was listening to something in the distance. He sneaked up behind the Mer, bending down so he was around his level. He made Magnus jump by poking the gills on his sides, pulling him out of his daze and startling him.  
"Ah! Rodimus!" Magnus repatriated by punching Rodimus on the arm, "You ruined my focus, I heard music."

"It'll be the community concert going on nearby."

"It must be nice to see music performed live by people that enjoy it. I haven't heard music live in- never mind.. "

Rodimus thought about that for a moment. Magnus loved music, but because the public eye saw Mers as a nuisance, he would never get to go to one.  
*Lightbulb, again*

"Put this on." Rodimus held out an oversized red hoodie to the large blue Mer. He felt a dopey grin spread across his face, this would be fun! 

"Why?"

"I'm getting you into that concert, don't worry about tickets, it's a community concert, you just show up and sing, like karaoke night but for the entire neighbourhood. Now put on the damn jumper and pull the hood over your head!" 

Magnus complied, tucking his hands under the blanket.

"Comfy?"

"Yes, my dorsal fin is cramped but, I'll live."

"Awesome, let's go!"

Rodimus grabbed the handles on the back of the chair and rolled Magnus towards the music. It gradually got louder and louder and LOUDER as they got closer until they were among people enjoying the music. Rodimus sat next to Magnus, looking at his face as he enjoyed the song. Shotgun by George Ezra played, the singers weren't as good as Magnus, but they would suffice. A grin spread across the Mer's face as he tilted his head to the beat of the music. 

"Magnus, you should sing." The words slipped out before he could stop them.  
The Mer stopped dead in his tracks and looked at Rodimus, his beautifully electric eyes glowing in the darkness caused by the hoodie draping over his face. His cheeks burned a Scarlett red, nearly as red as the sweater he was wearing.  
"W-what?!"

"You should sing." 

"I couldn't, not in front of all these people, what if they realised I'm not a human?"

"They won't, don't worry. Will you?"

"I suppose it would be practice for the fundraiser in a few days..." Magnus responded.

Suddenly, the gravity of the situation set in. What had he agreed to? If the crowd found out he was a Mer, who knows what they'd do?! Oh well, too late now. Rodimus had grabbed the handles on the wheelchair and rolled him over to the sign-up. A man with blonde hair, a leather jacket and thick, black shades handed Rodimus a clipboard.  
"Write yer name on it, then the song y'all wanna sing." He said in a slight southern accent and his voice was extremely nasally. He pointed at the clipboard.  
Rodimus bent down and said, "What song do you want to sing?"  
Magnus shrugged. He didn't know many songs that the air-breathers listened to. Panic started to set in. It's not like he had an original song he could pull out of a hat- wait.  
"I'll sing an original."  
Rodimus looked at him in astonishment, "Okay, if you're cool with that."  
Rodimus finished signing the clipboard and handed it back over to the man, he figured it was a security guard from the microphone that wormed across the side of his head.  
"Okay then, yer on in a few minutes. I'll come find y'all when it's time," The security guard was embraced by a loud sneeze, spraying mucus all over the two of them," I do beg your pardon. If it's an original, we can't give y'all the music in the background, can ye play any instruments?"

Magnus wiped the mucus from his face as he shook his head. He was taught to play a instrument that he didn't think the air-breathers had. It had a long neck-like strip which had 4 chords on it. The end had and adjuster and the other end was where you would strum the strings. It didn't really have a name that he knew of, his carrier taught him to play it after she found it in mint-condition on a human beach, along with a laminated sheet of chords. Pure luck really. He had grown up with that song and that instrument, but when the poachers came, it was broken. He never forgot how to play though.

"Would you like to have a look at the instruments anyway?" The security guard was persistant. Magnus nodded. Maybe they might have it? He doubted it, but something deep down told him to take this chance and look at the instrument collection. He and Rodimus were led into a wide room, covered wall-to-wall with instruments from across the globe. Golden plaques were screwed to the walls above the respective instrument.  
'Keyboard'  
'Drums'  
'Cymbals'  
'Maracas'  
'Cow bell'  
'Triangle'  
'Guitar'  
'Violin'  
Beautiful.  
One small instrument caught his eye. It was the same instrument his carrier had found on a beach. Long strings, adjusters, thick base. he read the plaque above the instrument.  
'Ukulele'  
Taking it off it's stand, he held it. Yes. This is it. This felt right. He strummed the strings. Yes. Rodimus, who was previously gazing around the room in pure awe, looked over at Magnus who was holding the instrument and gently strumming the instrument.  
"You recognise this one?"

"My mother taught me to play this instrument, I never forgot how to play, even after she died. She found one on a beach and a set of chords on laminated paper." Magnus told Rodimus quietly, so the security guard couldn't hear, "I still know how to play the song she taught me, and the lyrics we made are still vivid in my memory. I could play this."

They hadn't realised the security guard was listening in until his booming voice cut their conversation off, "Good! The singers outside have just finished, yer on now!"  
He pointed to the room's exit and the ramp up to the stage. Rolling up the ramp, Magnus was sweating underneath the red hood covering his face. He was nervous now, he had never sung infront of so many people before. The previous singers had attracted quite a crowd, there were more people watching than when he arrived. Gulping heavily, he looked over at Rodimus who gave him a thumbs up and a genuine grin. His glowing blue eyes re-directed themselves to the crowd of people waiting for him to start. He sighed. Then he strummed the ukulele in his grasp and began to sing.

"I don't know my name  
I don't play by the rules of the game  
So you say I'm just trying  
Just tryyinnng,"  
The crowd perked up at the beautiful melody Magnus' deep voice was singing,

"So I heard you are my sister's friend,  
you get along quite nicely.  
You asked me why I cut my hair,  
And changed myself completely.."  
A deep breath in and Magnus continued,

"I don't know my name,  
I don't play by the rules of the game,  
So you say I'm just trying,  
Just tryyinnng,"

Magnus' head went from bowed to his chest to up in the air now. The crowd gave cheers and suprised hollars at this new-comer. His singing was breath-taking, smooth and delicate but strong and passionate at the same time.

"I went from bland and popular to joining the marching band,  
I made the closest friends,  
I'll ever have in my lifetime,

I'm lost,  
trying to get found in an ocean of,  
Peeoplee,  
Please don't any questions,  
There won't be a valid answer,  
Oh I'll just say

That I don't know my name  
I don't play by the rules of the game  
So you say I'm just trying  
Just tryyinnng

I now know my name!  
I don't play by the rules of the game  
So you say, I'm not trying  
But I'm tryyinnng  
To find my way."

The crowd errupted into clapping and cheers, causing Rodimus to smile proudly. He knew Magnus was nervous about singing and that large crowds of people would make him nervous, but he did amazingly. Rodimus could see the small smile stretching across Magnus' face. He had a nice smile. It was... cute.  
His thoughts were interrupted by his phone, which was ringing like crazy. He pulled it out of his pocket and checked the ID.

Incoming call: Ratchet

Really?! Again!? You have got the be jokng! Ratchet always does this, why does he interrupt at the most inconvenient moments?! With a roll of his eyes and an exasprated sigh, Rodimus answered the call.  
"Hi, Ratchet."

"RODIMUS!! WHERE ARE YOU???"

"I'm with Magnus."

"You set out to put posters up 2 hours ago! What's taking so long?! Everybody is worried sick! Are you okay? Is Magnus?"

"Ratchet, calm down. We're fine, better in fact! Magnus and I will meet you there soon, okay?"

"Fine, but be careful."  
Ratchet hung up. 

Time to get Magnus and get back to the centre, otherwise Ratchet would have his guts for garters. Magnus had just rolled off the stage, practically beaming.

"You looked great." Rodimus smiled. Magnus gave him a toothy grin, quickly hiding his fangs as the security guard gave him a look.  
"Sorry to cut it short though, but we've got to go. Ratchet called me, everyone's worried sick."

"Oh! I forgot about that. We should go then. I can't believe I forgot!" Magnus was mentally kicking himself, it was his responsibility to get Rodimus back safely. Enough of that for now though, time to get back to the centre before Ratchet comes looking. 

He turned around and gestured for Rodimus to follow him as he rolled out the door. 

By the time they were far enough away from the crowd for Magnus to take the hood off his head, new singers were already claiming the stage. A yawn escaped the Mer as he slowed his pace. Rodimus smiled.  
'Poor thing must be exhausted' He thought to himself.  
He grabbed the handles of Magnus' wheelchair and rolled him the rest of the way, allowing him to drift off to sleep by the time they had reached the Lost Light. He rolled Magnus through the front door, ignoring the confused stares he received from First Aid, who was at the desk again. Ratchet was down the hall, arms crossed across his chest and foot tapping the floor impatiently.  
"Where have you been!?" Ratchet yelled, clearly unaware that Magnus was asleep on the wheelchair. 

"SSHHHH" Rodimus violently hissed at the doctor. He pointed to Magnus.

Ratchet nodded. Together, they got Magnus back into his pool. The other Mers were just talking and laughing, like they always did at night before bed. Everyone was friends at the Lost Light, and they shared jokes and funny stories or things they learnt from the few children that visit. Those last ones were becoming more and more rare. However, they all shushed very quickly when they noticed Roddy and Ratchet gently scoot Magnus over to the shelf on the side of his pool. He was still wearing Rodimus' oversized red hoodie. Cute.  
When Ratchet and Rodimus left to go and "discuss things" (quote via Ratchet) the Mers resumed their talk, just quieter.  
"Rodimus likes Magnus." Swerve whispered. Swerve was brought in a few years ago, he had been stuck in a large beer barrel underwater, damaging his tail fins. He wouldn't be able to keep up with a pod anymore if he joined one in the wild.

"IknowrighthetotallydoesdidanyofyouseethelookhegaveMagnusbeforetheyleft? LikeohmyLordhetotallylikeshim!!" Blurr replied. Blurr was beached after an incident with oil dumped into the sea. It poisoned him, and after examination and tests, he body wouldn't be able to process the amount of salt in the ocean anymore.

"The likelyhood of them being able to start a relationship isn't very high though, Magnus no doubts has a mate in his pod. As soon as he's healed, he'll go back and then they'll never see each other again." Percy was raised as a lab experiment. It was concluded that no pod would take him after so much contact with humans.

"Percy, for once in your life, can you think about love rather than statistics?" Rewind teased, prompting Chromedome to nod. Rewind didn't have any injuries, he had stayed with his love, Chromedome, after he was attacked by a test experiment shark-type Mer that got loose and bit his arm and half his wing clean off.

"I think that they'd be a sweet couple, Roddy is still young and needs to start looking for a mate. If Magnus doesn't have a mate, maybe after he's released he'll come back?" Springer was a white-tip shark-type. After being caught in a fishing net by fishers, he was traumatized. The doctors said that he could be released, but after such nice treatment, he didn't really want to go back. His old pod wasn't very good anyway.

"Switching topics here, which pod would Magnus belong to anyway? He doesn't strike me as the kind of Mer that would stick to one for long." Tracks gossiped. A lot. He was saved from an illegal fighting ring.

"From the aura I get around him, I'd say he hasn't been in a pod for a few years. he seems traumatized. I think his old pod was the Simanzi pod, remember the massacre a couple years ago?"

"How can you tell?"

"The aura!"  
That made all the Mers look at Drift sceptically. 

"Alright, fine. I heard him and Ratchet talking about it. He lost his parents in the massacre when he was a pup."  
That made them all gasp. Percy looked at the sleeping Whale-Mer with a face full of pity. 

"Drift you sly fish~" Tracks purred. 

"Wonder if he would want to go back to the ocean? Wonder if he would want to stick around humans?" Percy whispered to Skids.

"We need to tell Roddy, I don't think he knows." springer suggested. The Mers agreed, all nodding. As if on cue, Magnus started to stir, causing them all to hide. That was enough gossip for tonight. When Magnus settled back into a tight ball to sleep in, the rest of the Mers relaxed and got comfy on their own shelves. They all drifted into sleep, listening to the distant gulls chirping above. 

~~~~~~X

It was now two days before the fundraiser, and the Lost Light's resident Mers still hadn't told Rodimus about Magnus' past. Mainly because they were busy preparing Ratchet had decided to keep it a secret from all the volunteers that the local Girl Scouts were scheduled a visit with their troop leader today and EVERYBODY had to help, Mers and humans alike. Rodimus came down with Nautica and Nightbeat, all of them had hands full of fish in buckets.  
"Love the buckets Nautica, you finally finished them all!" Chromedome commented. Nautica had finally finished the buckets, and they looked very professional.

"Thanks, Domey! Lotty gave me some tips."

"Tell her 'hi' from me then, next time you see her." Velocity was Nautica's best friend. She would come around occasionally to talk to the Mers and help Nautica with her painting, and it was always nice to see her.

Rodimus walked over to Magnus' pool, the Mer was just waking up, but he seemed more groggy and sluggish than usual. The fins at his sides flapped spiratically and as soon as he got to the pools edge, his dropped his head on his good arm and started to pant. Rodimus bent down. This wasn't normal, even for a Mer of Magnus' size. Nautica and Nightbeat had finished giving the Mers their breakfast and had joined Rodimus at Magnus' pool. The whale-Mer suddenly had a coughing-fit. Once the spasm subsided, he whimpered. Nautica put her hand to Magnus' forehead. He was way hotter than normal, she pulled away and her eyes went wide.

She jumped to her feet and shot down the hallway, yelling "I'm getting Ratchet!"  
Nightbeat sat on the pool's edge and slid into the water, leaving his dark blue flip-flops on the edge next to Rodimus, who was stroking Magnus' finials that ran up the side of his head. Normally, those fins would be snow white, but the ends were currently a hint of pink. His cheeks and nose were rosey and clearly irritated.  
"You okay, Mags?" Rodimus asked him quietly.

"Mmmhmm..*whine*" Magnus sunk back into the water, head just below the water line. He wobbily swam back towards the shelf on the other end of the pool. Nightbeat swam over with him, sitting behind him as he curled into a ball. Just as Rodimus stood up, Nautica and Ratchet ran around the corner, holding a first aid kit.  
"Where's the patient?!" Ratchet called. Rodimus pointed to the shelf Magnus and Nightbeat were resting on.

"Perceptor, Drift, can I borrow you for a minute or two?" The Mers nodded and hopped out of their pools, scooting towards Ratchet. "Can you go to the community beach and keep First Aid posted on when the Girl Scouts will get here?" He handed Perceptor a black walkie-talkie and gestured for them to hurry up. As they scooted away, Ratchet heard Magnus whimper again. Slipping himself into the water, Ratchet slowly motioned towards Mags. He just emitted an exasperated huff and closed his eyes. Ratchet pulled out a thermometer and stuck it in Magnus' mouth. The Mer was clearly caught off-guard by this because his head shot into the air.

Ratchet patiently waited for the line to steady before pulling the thermometer back out of the Mer's mouth. The average bodily temperature for a Mer is about the same for a human, it ranges. The average though is about 37.2*C. Ratchet read the thermometer. 39.7*C. That was way too warm. Magnus clearly had a fever. It was so random though, things like this don't just manifest out of thin air.  
"Rodimus?"

"Yeah, Ratch?"

"Has Magnus been exposed to anything that could develop into an illness?"

"Well, remember yesterday when we came back late?"

"Yes?"

"Well, it was like this--"

"Just spit it out, Rodimus."

"I took Magnus to the community concert and the security guard sneezed on him."

"You WHAT!?"

"I didn't think this would have happened!"

"Rodimus, Magnus hasn't built up an immunity to illnesses like the rest of us, he hasn't been exposed to them enough. He's a wild Mer and I'm fairly certain that nasty fevers are much less common underwater than they are on land." The other resident Mers made clicks and chirps in affirmation. They turned around in time to hear Magnus huff again. Nightbeat was petting Magnus finials now. Mags' eyes were watering from the high fever, the tears running down his rosey cheeks.  
"Anyway, it doesn't matter. Go get an ice-pack and a blanket." Ratchet ordered Rodimus.  
Rodimus scuttled away as First Aid stumbled through the door.  
"Ratchet, the Girl Scouts will be here in about 5 minutes. The leader would like it if all employees are at the front door to meet them and assist in helping them get their badges. It was more of an order than a request..." "Oh great, umm.. Tell Percy and Drift to get back here ASAP. Nightbeat, you know how to take care of fevers?" Ratchet said as he started walking backwards out of the room. "Yup, I know all about it." Nightbeat added reassuringly. "Nice, when Rodimus comes back, give Magnus the blanket and ice-pack and then get to the front door. Tell Roddy to do the same. Mers, the girls will be brought down here to get their 'helping the wildlife' badge or something. Don't let them get to close to Magnus." The Mers clicked and whistled at him to let him know they understood. "Good, c'mon Aid." Ratchet said, gesturing for First Aid to follow him out the door to the lobby. As Ratchet and Aid walked out, Rodimus came back. He was holding a large purple blanket and a small ice-pack. He met Nightbeat at the pool's edge so Nightbeat could bring the stuff over to the ill Mer without him actually needing to move. Nightbeat made him way back to the pool's edge after putting the ice-pack on Magnus' forehead and the blanket across his mountainous back. "Mers, you know what to do. C'mon Roddy, Ratchet wants us all at the front door to welcome the Girl Scouts." "But I want to stay with Mags, it's my fault he's sick." "That's cute but no. Let's go, Roddy." "Ugh, fine. Drift! Take care of him for me!" "Will do, Capy-taain!" Drift yelled after him. And just like that, they had disappeared around the bend. Springer and Drift got out of their pools and slid into Magnus' whilst Blurr went into the storage room and rolled out a small, flat TV on a cart. "OoooOOOoOOooooOO," Swerve cooed, "Movie Night! What are our choices?" "We have Mary Poppins Returns, Moana or Lilo & Stitch. Take your pick." "What's with all the Disney?" "Because, Tracks, there are children in the building. Ratchet would have our heads if they walked in on swearing!" "Touche." The others Mers all slipped into the pool. "Alright, I'll ask again. Mary Poppins Returns, Moana or Lilo & Stitch?" "Moana" "Lilo & Stitch" "Lilo & Stitch" "Mary Poppins Returns" "Lilo & Stitch" "Moana" "Mary Poppins Returns" "Lilo & Stitch" "Moana" "What do you want to watch, Mags?" In response, Magnus just grumbled and cut it off with a huff. "That was Lilo & Stitch! Springer count the votes!" "Okay, Lilo & Stitch won with 5 votes. Blurr, shove in the disk!" Blurr took the CD out of it's container and popped it into the CD player. The opening music started to play before Rewind heard a small huff from the purple blanket next to him. "Magnus?" He whispered. He looked over and flipped the flap that was covering the large Mer's face. When he flipped it up he saw that Magnus was asleep. It will have been the fever making him lethargic. They'd wake him up when the girl scouts come. ~~~~~~X They were all lined up outside. The entire crew. Nightbeat, Nautica, Rung, Ratchet, First Aid and Rodimus. The Girl Scout leader was a plump, middle-age looking woman with a tight bun sitting at the back of her head. She had 3 girls trailing behind her in dark blue and tan uniforms. The Girl Scouts looked like they didn't really want to be there, keeping their hands behind their backs and their attention to their shoes. "Welcome to the Lost Light Mer Rehabilitation Centre! We have some Mers through here, if you'd like to meet them?" Nautica asked, the tension becoming too much. The girls looked up slightly and a few even smiled as the shuffled through the doors. Nautica, Rodimus and Nightbeat took them down from the beach and into the corridor that had all the Mers pools, They found them all huddled into a ball watching Lilo & Stitch. They were all munching on crabs and sushi that they must have found in the refridgerator in the staff room a few doors down. The girls immediately started fauning over them, "Ooh! Look at the pretty scales!" and "Wow! Your fins are so pretty!" They obviously hadn't seem Mers before, at least not up-close... They worked their way through the pile of Mers watching the TV, eventually finding Magnus at it's base, but when Rewind told them to leave him be since he was sick, they heeded his advice and just settled into the pile and watched the movie. Rodimus and Co. walked in just as the end credits were rolling, the Girl Scout leader behind them. "Girls! Go get changed into your swimming costumes! Mr. Ratchet says you can use the toilets down the hall. Go on! Chop chop!!" She barked, clapping her hands for emphasis. The girls sprang from the pile of colourful scales and dashed down the hall. The scuffle of small feet stirred Magnus slightly, who had slept through the entire movie. Rodimus smiled and slipped into the pool, drifting over to the resident Mers. "Young man, please come away from that.. BEAST! It could hurt you!" The leader stated, earning a few disgusted looks from the Mers and humans alike. Ratchet snorted, "Pardon me, ma'am, but the Mers here aren't dangerous. They are civil beings that are completely safe." "More civil than someone else currently occupying space.." Rodimus mumbled under his breath, causing the Mers to snigger behind webbed fingers. "*Ahem* Anyway, you are welcome to leave the girls here and do some errands if you would like, my team and I are fully trained in First Aid and I have experience with young children." "If you wouldn't mind, I need to organise some things for the events in a few weeks. I'll come back and pick them up in about 5 hours?" Ratchet made a small choking noise and then corrected himself, "Of course! See you later!" he said, as pleasantly as he could muster. The round woman strutted her way down the hall, and then they heard the click of the doors closing behind her. Ratchet relaxed. "Thank god, I thought she'd never leave. Didn't want to have to deal with THAT all afternoon.." he pointed to the door with his thumb over his shoulder as he turned around to face the rest of the crew. At that moment, the 4 girls all scuttled back into the hall wearing vibrant swimming costumes in all colours and decorated with shapes and bows. The shortest of the group was wearing a yellow duck lilo. "Hi girls, okay so your club leader has left you with us to get your badges, is that okay?" The girls looked relieved and relaxed, this beging the first time since their leader had left. "Well, you might want to know our names then," the tallest one spoke. "My name is Marissa. That's Miko and that's Verity." Marissa was about two inches taller than Miko and Miko was about a head taller than Verity. Marissa had long flowing red hair and emerald green eyes. Miko had dark brown hair with pink tips and hazel eyes, whereas Verity had deep blue eyes, like the ocean and short brown hair in a high ponytail. Verity had a lilo around her waist.

"Hello there, my name's Nautica, that's Ratchet, Rung, Rodimus, Nightbeat and First Aid. Have you been introduced to the Mers yet?"  
The girls shook their heads in unison. Nautica nodded to the Mers. They started reciting their own names: "Springer" "Perceptor" "Blurr" "Rewind" "Chromedome" "Tracks~" "Swerve" "Skids" "Drift" "And this is Ultra Magnus." Rodimus referenced to the still sleeping Mer. As if on cue, the Mer's face scrunched up and he huffed, still not opening his eyes. Magnus' fists started clenching and unclenching as he started to hum softly. The hum cut off suddenly when Magnus snarled and rolled onto his side, flashing his white stomach and red streak off to the young girls. "He's dreaming." Drift said, rolling into the water and swimming slowly to the edge of the pool. "Don't worry, he'll wake up if it gets too bad." Drift's dazzling stripes sprakled in the light when he stretched a hand out the girls. "Ratchet do we have any sashimi? Springer ate it all.." Drift glared at Springer, causing the larger Mer to stutter. "W- I- Did not!" Drift rolled his blue and black eyes. Magnus woke up, gasping. Rodimus petted the Mer and smiled reassuringly. "Ratchet. Pass the thermometer, I'll check his temperature so he doesn't have to get out." Rodimus called to the medic on the other side of the pool. "Drift, can you deliver this to Rodimus? I don't dare trust to throw glass to someone with such a bad baseball record." Ratchet said to Drift. Rodimus rolled his eyes as the swordfish Mer gave him the thermometer. He popped it in Magnus' mouth and read the number when it gave a small BEEP. 38.43*C. The fever was going down but not as quickly as Rodimus would have liked. He didn't want Mags' to be sick because of him, looking at his cute face all puffy and rosy was just as bad. Not that he didn't want to look at Magnus' face! It's just a cruel reminder to tell Rodimus that HE made Magnus sick. "38.43*C, Ratchet. It's definitely going down." Rodimus filled Ratchet in. Ratchet nodded impassively and clapped his hands loudly. "Okay, girls. Your scout leader wants us to help you receive your badges. Can you tell us what they are.. exactly?" "It's our 'Mer Support' badges." Marissa beamed proudly. "We need to help Mers with.. well - whatever!" "Right, well.. I've organised something with the Mers today. Well, almost all the Mers." He gestured to the whale in the room. "We're going to Liberty's Peak, going to help the Mers with hunting and getting their weekly outing to the beach!" "Umm.. Ratchet? The Mers don't have a weekly out--" Ratchet cut Nautica off my putting his hand over her mouth. "You're going to help me, Nightbeat, Nautica and Rung get all the Mers into the truck we have, all the gear they need to take with them and come with us. Is that okay?" Marissa and Miko nodded as soon as Ratchet finished. Verity gave a slow, distracted nod when she saw the other two nodding, but really her attention was on the large blue Mer that Rodimus was resting against. She looked at how his muscles visably worked under a layer of blubber and beautiful florescent blue hide. Wow. He was so cool. She was pulled out of her admiring daze however when Miko grabbed her hand and dragged her along, tailing Ratchet, Nightbeat, Nautica and Rung. The resident Mers all went to the commuity beach, awaiting Ratchet and Co. to be loaded onto the truck. This left Rodimus and Magnus alone. Sweet silence at last. "Guess I'm not going to Liberty's Peak." Magnus' voice was raspy from lack of use. He sounded disappointed. "No, sorry. This is all my fault. I shouldn't have taken you to the karaoke thing against your will." "Rodimus-" "Don't. It's my fault and I know it, you were right. We shouldn't have gone to the concert. Should have come back here as soon as we finished putting up the posters for the fundraiser." That popped a thought into Rodimus' head. He had completely forgotten about the fundraiser. Shit. It was in two days! He didn't even notice Magnus trying to get his attention by waving a large white hand infront of his freckly face. "Rodimus?? Earth to Rodimus? You still in there?" Rodimus sprang to his feet. "Yes! Oh my GOD! The fundraiser is in two days! I completely forgot! You're sick! You can't sing if you're sick, can you?!" When Magnus shook his head worry set into the pit of Rodimus stomach. He ran his hands through his fiery hair and he started hyperventilating. Rodimus rarely panicked, but if this didn't go right, there was a large possibility that the Lost Light would get shut down by the stinking council. Rodimus felt a large hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry. I'll be fine by then, you saw the numbers on the thermometer, the number have already gone down plenty just after 2 hours or so.." Rodimus steadied his breathing. Magnus was right, things would be fine. Rodimus sat down again, resting most of his weight against Magnus' belly. The Mer was now laying on his back. Rodimus allowed himself to relax, feeling the tension leave his muscles. We allowed his breathing to sync with Magnus', watching the Mer's gills flare when he exhaled. Rodimus felt his eyes become heavy, when a foreign feeling petting his hair. He looked up and saw the whale's large hand touching his fiery hair. "Magnus?" He felt the Mer's strong body rumble when he hummed questioningly. "What are you doing?" "Petting you. Your hair is so fluffy." Came the answer. Rodimus chuckled internally and permitted a smile to cross his face. The pets were nice. He understood now why the Mers loved it so much. Rodimus once again felt his eyes becoming heavy. The world around him started to blur become darker. He let the gentle hum of Magnus' body take over. Sleep crashed into him like a tidal wave and he quickly drifted off into the land of dreams. ~~~~~~X It had been about 4 hours since the resident Mers, the Girl Scouts and the Lost Light crew had gone to Liberty's Peak. They had just come back, bringing all their noise back with them. Magnus' didn't want them to wake Rodimus, who was still asleep, resting on his underbelly, so when they came into the hallway, covered in sand and sea water and ugh, he shushed the violently. "SHHHH!!!" They were surprised by this sudden outburst, stepping back slightly until they noticed Rodimus curled up, asleep. Ratchet gave an understanding nod and quickly shoved everyone through the staff room doors. Rung and Nightbeat followed him out of the room, most likely to help the resident Mers out of the truck and back into their pools for a goodnight's rest. Magnus was still petting Rodimus' head, it was soft, he couldn't help it. After a few minutes, Ratchet came back in, alone. "Open up, Magnus. Need to check to see if that temperature is going down." He said in a hushed voice. Ratchet popped the thermometer he was carrying into Magnus' open mouth, looking at the result when it gave another small BEEP. "37.3*C. You're all good, by morning everything should be normal. I'm going to get you some medication anyway though, just to help you sleep." When Ratchet left, that was when Magnus realised that he was quite tired anyway. However, he knew better than to question Ratchet, afterall, it didn't end well for anyone else. He proceeded to stroking the sleeping human resting on his stomach. He was cute wasn't he? With his little face and freckles. Magnus admired Rodimus until Ratchet came along. The doctor completely interrupted his admiring, how dare he? Is this what Rodimus was talking about with Ratchet ruining everything? The good doctor pulled out a teaspoon and poored the medicine into the spoon. It was faintly pink with a crystalline finish and smelled of strawberries. The Mer felt it roll down his throat as Ratchet picke the sleeping Rodimus. The medication got to work immediately, making Mags' eyes droop dramatically. He didn't want to let Rodimus go, emitting a whimper when Ratchet pulled him away. "Don't worry Magnus, you'll see him soon. You can ___ his ______ ____ in the _______." The medicine was working freakishly well now, he couldn't make out the last few words Ratchet had said. He felt the warmth of Rodimus' body being lifted from his own and that upset him, he didn't know why. He gave a small whine when his vision began to blur. His body was colder now Rodimus' body heat wasn't keeping him warm. He felt the full force of the evening air. "Rodim's, c'me b'ck..." Magnus slurred, pathetically reaching for the sleeping human in Ratchet's grasp. Ratchet gave a gentle chuckle, laying Rodimus on the floor for a moment as he walked around to the Mer. He kneeled down as Mags' head dropped into the crook of his arm, slowly dozing off. "It's ____, Magnus. Get ____ ____. _'__ check __ ___ in the morning. _________." Magnus fell into sleep with Ratchet petting the side of his head. By now the other Mers had been put into their pools and had witnessed Ratchet giving Magnus the medication. The whale Mer wouldn't have had any control over his actions and was simply acting on instinct of protection of those he treasured and felt close too. Hinting towards the words 'treasured' and 'close too'. Magnus had tried protecting Rodimus from the extremely little danger Ratchet posed. Sweet. Now they knew that Rodders liked Mags and Mags HAD to like him back, they just had to find out how to get them to confess and live happily ever after. Once Ratchet had left with Rodimus in arms, they resident Mers began hatching their ultimate plan. "Oh. My. God. They totally like each other." Tracks gossiped. "Mmhmm! But how do we get them to get together?" Rewind was practically half-way out of his pool with excitement, the only thing holding him back was Chromedome's gentle strokes along his underbelly. "We need to be strategic.." Perceptor hummed in thought, pinching his chin. "Screw strategy! They are in love! We need to find out what they both have in common, we know what Roddy loves, time to learn about Mags..." Springer looking over at the larger Mer's pool, an action repeated by all the other Mers. They would have to wait. Every single Mer there had had 'Ratchet's special serum' before, and they knew all too well how well it worked. Mags would be out for a while. "We need a date, it would have to be after the fundraiser." Skids said, splashing his tail playfully in the water. Swerve nodded. They were interrupted when Magnus noisily rolled over, his tail and large fins slapping the shallow water his was laying in upon impact. This caused Blurr and Tracks to jump slightly. "He really ENJOYS doing that DOESN'T he?!" Tracks gritted his teeth. "Maybe he subconsciously likes the sound?" Drift said, "I heard Rodimus say that they went to a small concert, that's why he got sick." "MUSIC!! That's it!!" Percy exclaimed. "He loves music!" "We can't be certain. We can always ask him tomorrow, just to check." Springer added. The Mers nodded again, but knowing Percy, this couldn't go un-investigated. He slipped out of his pool and found a small red radio on a shelf - Ratchet must have left it there at some point - and changed the station by turning the beige nozzle on the side. A relaxing and soothing song started to play and the Mers watched in awe as Magnus' body visibly untensed. You wouldn't have noticed he was tense to begin with if you hadn't seen the before and after the radio. Perceptor smiled accomplishedly as he turned the music down. "We can sleep with the music, I didn't really want to take it away." He protested. The group nodded and started to settle down, yawns and stretches escaping them. They fell asleep, happy with their plan, listening to relaxing music flowing from a small ruby radio. ~~~~~~X Rodimus woke up the next morning, pleasantly easing his way off the sofa in the staff room. He had had the most incredible dream, it was of him and Magnus, swimming through the reef together. He was watching the light catching Magnus' luminescent scales, admiring the way his muscular body glided through the water. He didn't need any air-breathing equipment, zero strings attached. Just him and Mags, weaving through colourful schools of fish and colourful flowing corals. Amazing. Strange, Ratchet hadn't ruined it. This was very out of character for him. "Rodimus!?" Ratchet called from the staff kitchen next door. There it was. "Rodimus! What do you want for breakfast?!" He must have heard him get up, Ratchet had hearing like a bat. Rodimus got up, albeit wobbly, and walked through the door to the staff kitchen. "Were you here all night?" Rodimus asked. "Yes, now answer the question." "Why?" "Because I didn't want to leave you here on your own and I didn't want to risk waking you up if I tried to get you back to your apartment. Now what do you want for breakfast?" "What are you making?" "Grilled fish." "Can I have some of that?" "Yep. Sit down at the table, it'll be ready soon." Rodimus did as he was told, pulling out a small wooden chair that was neatly tooked under the table and sitting on it. True to his word, as usual, Ratchet put a small cod chopped into strips onto a plate and layed it before Rodimus. As he took a bite, Ratchet sat across from him, his own fish lightly seasoned with pepper and barley. "Is it good?" Ratchet asked. Rodimus nodded enthusiastically. "Amazing as usual, Ratch!" He exclaimed, mouth full of deliciously grilled fish. Ratchet gave a small smile as he put a forkful into his own mouth. The silence that fell between them was comforting, a nice silence. Not the uncomfortable one that he has come to expect. Ratchet hummed before swallowing. Then he spoke, "What are your plans for the fundraiser tomorrow?" "You'll see~" Rodimus winked at him before one of his signature smiles crossed his face. It was more of a smirk, but Ratchet smiled and rolled his eyes anyway. "Go on then." "Hmm?" "I can tell that you want to go see Magnus, go on then. I'll see you soon." Rodimus smiled, getting up from his seat and plate in hand. He placed it on the counter. He gave a Ratchet a subtle nod and then a small wave, rushing though the door to the hall. Upon entering the hall to the Mers pools, you could see that they were almost all awake; Swerve, Drift, Tracks and Chromedome were all still asleep. Rodimus walked down the aisle towards Mags' pool. The big Mer was stretching when Rodimus arrived, his muscles flexing visibly under a layer of blubber. "Hey big guy, have a good night's rest?" Rodimus said cheerfully, walking over and stroking the Mer's white finial. Magnus gave a huff and then nodded. "What about you? You look well rested." He countered. "Yeah I slept great, I had this crazy dream though." "Hmm, me too." "Oh well, you want some breakfast? I've already eaten." The Mer nodded enthusiastically as the large fins at his sides wafted powerfully, disturbing the water he floated in. Rodimus straightened himself up, as he walked down the hall again. He grabbed the bucket and filled it up with fresh cod, salmon and crabs and then walked back down to meet the Mers. He chucked Magnus three crabs, watching as the Mer dived for them. Making his way down the aisle, Rodimus chucked the fish at the resident Mers. Cod for you. Salmon for you. Cod for you. Cod for you. Crabs for you. Eventually, all the fish and crabs had been handed out and all the Mers were satisfied. Rodimus went back down the hallway and put the colourful bucket back on the shelf with the others and sat down on the edge of Magnus' pool. As the Mer drifted over, he just smiled, watching Magnus' gills flair with every breath he took. The Mer faintly smiled back, putting a large white hand over a smaller pale one. He turned around and addressed all the residents at once, "Are we all ready for tomorrow?" Clicks and sweet sounding chirps came from the response, and then Springer spoke, "We all know what we are doing tomorrow, what's today's agenda?" Rodimus pondered on that for a few moments before answering, "Why don't we go to the beach?" ~~~~~~X Once he had run it over with Ratchet, they were all set. Rodimus piled on the nessecities, such as blankets, an umberella, a picnic for himself and the Mers, swimming trunks, snorkling gear, etc. Turns out Ratchet wanted to come too. Yesterday, he had to take care of the young girls more so than rather enjoy the beach and ocean in itself, so when he agreed, Rodimus was quite surprised. Ratchet and Rodimus helped the Mers in one by one. Most of the Mers didn't want to go since they were tired from yesterday, apparently Ratchet wasn't the only one taking care of those girls. It's okay though, the other volunteers would care for them whilst Rodimus, Ratchet and the other Mers were at the beach, actually enjoying themselves instead of babysitting. The Mers that decided to tag along were: Drift, Magnus, Springer and Swerve. Told you most of the Mers didn't want to go. Anyway, once the posse were in the truck and all the equipment was piled in, the were off. Ratchet drove so Rodimus could sit in the back with the others. He was given a small red radio from Perceptor, all he said was "You'll need this later." He still didn't know what it was supposed to mean, all he could do was wait. In the back, Rodimus was currently sat on the floor, Magnus resting his chin on his lap to his right, Drift snuggling into his side to his left, Springer by his feet and Swerve resting on the bench behind him. He was surrounded. By adorable, squishy faces. 'The best kind of cage.' He thought to himself. Rodimus was messing on his phone, showing the Mers funny videos of animals as the truck drove on. One came on of a cat with a pink flower on it's head. The face it made, caused Drift, Swerve and Springer all to chuckle loudly, but Magnus just cocked his head in confusion. "I don't get it.." He murmured. "Where is your sense of humour?" Springer questioned. "He left it back at the centre." Swerve countered before Magnus could reply. The Mers chuckled again whilst Rodimus continued to 'surf the web' for more funny videos. Another one came on, this time with a small child falling off a swing, followed by a virtual bowling game saying 'Strike!' Rodimus, Springer, Drift and Swerve all laughed again whilst Mags continued to be confused. "I still don't get it." "Correction: he left it back in the ocean." "It's funny." "I fail to see how the misfortune of others is 'funny'." "WE'RE HERE!!" Ratchet called from the cab of the truck. Rodimus lifted Mags' chin from his lap and got up, opening the doors and letting the sunlight pour through the entrance. Liberty's Peak. No matter how many times he came, the novelty of it's beauty never wore off. He deeply inhaled the see air before turning to the Mers again. "Ready for the beach?" ~~~~~~X It took a lot of effort to get all the Mers done to the beach, but about half and hour later, they had a camp layed out, he and Ratchet were both in swimming trunks and about to put on suncream. He gave the bottle a quick SQUIRT into his hand before handing it to Ratchet, who did the same. They rubbed the cream into their skin, watching the barrier form. Once all rubbed in, the they looked at each other and then to the Mers. They'll need some too. Ratchet and Rodimus practically tackled Springer to the ground as they spread the cream across his hide. He snarled playfully as he struggled against their combined strength, one all rubbed in, they released Springer and advanced to Drift, pinning him to the sand and letting the cream glaze across Drift's white, balck and red flesh. He made a disgusted sound once he was released and watched as Swerve as pinned to the floor like a dart to a board. The flounder Mer struggled at first but eventually gave in, just waiting for it to be over. He knew he couldn't escape their combined grip. Next was Magnus, who was cleaning his hide by liking away the sand. Rodimus walked over and sat on his back, startling the larger Mer. Even though Magnus was easily three times his weight and double his size, the Mer didn't really struggle. Much. His face flushed pink when Roddy sat on his back, but relaxed when the cream was spread across his back and up his dorsal fin. He let his head drop onto the backs of his hands as Rodimus rubbed circles into his back. His fins twitched contentedly. Once Rodimus got off, Magnus felt a little disappointed, but it quickly faded when Rodimus attached flippers to his feet and a mask to his face. Magnus looked at Rodimus with confusion lacing his features. When Rodimus pointed to the ocean and started waddling towards the shore, Magnus suddenly felt excited. He started edging himslef towards the sea, trying desperatly to make it before Rodimus could. Luckily, Liberty's Peak wasn't a rocky beach, so dragging himself along the sand was easier than it would have been. Once he was about waist deep, Rodimus was already floating off the edge of the sand bank. Now he was in the water though, Magnus glided out to his human friend with ease. Rodimus gazed at the Mer in utter astonishment when he started swimming tight and swift loops around him. Beautiful. The way Magnus' scales shimmered in the light was amazing. His pure white dorsal fin disturbing the water. Wow. Rodimus hadn't realised his mouth was open until Magnus swam mere inches away from his face and close it with his hand. Magnus chuckled lightly as Rodimus flushed with embarrassment. He motioned his head out to the water and for Rodimus to follow him. Once they were about a mile or so out from shore, Magnus realised that even with Rodimus' assistance with those silicon flippers he attached to his feet, that he was still a slow swimmer. After the 7th or so time he had to double back or stop for his human friend to catch up, the large Mer was frustrated. He doubled back to Rodimus and offered his dorsal fin to him. Once Rodimus was latched on, he started to swim quicker. "Take a deep breath." Magnus instructed. He dived, revealing the surreal rainbow of bright, summer colours below the water's surface. Rodimus felt his eyes widen comically, but he couldn't care less. Hold on a second. Déjà vu. Then he realised it. This was his dream. This is exactly what happened in his dream!! Well then, his dream was GREAT, so if this is any similar, then he best make the most of it whilst he can. Schools of small, colourful fish swam fast them, twirling in the water like dancers on a stage. Correction: This was BETTER than his dream. Magnus gave him a click and a chirp, looking over his shoulder. Magnus' deep rumbling voice sounded different underwater. It was hard to explain. The frequency made the water vibrate almost, but at the same it sounded high pitched. He let Rodimus release his dorsal fin and he turned around to face the human. He span in the water and released another sound, this one more soothing and dragged out. Once the Mer stopped his graceful spinning and twirling, his face was centimetres away from Rodimus', his face a tint of pink. When he noticed the human's confused look however, he backed away and flushed with shame. He whimpered. Rodimus was confused at what he had witnessed, it was beautiful - yes - but strange. Mer knowledge started cycling through his head when he remembered something he was taught by Ratchet a few years ago, just after the mainland announced the Simanzi Mer Massacre. 'Whale Mers are very rare now, so it is important we know their behaviour. If you ever see a whale Mer spin and click with their arms above their head, stay AWAY. It's a delicate procedure that humans have NO RIGHT of knowing about!' 'What is it though, Ratchet?' Rodimus had asked. 'It's their--' Rodimus' thought was cut off when he felt his lungs burning. He had spent longer underwater than he probably should have. He frantically pointed and gestured towards the surface until the Mer understood, he took Rodimus under his arm and swam shockingly fast. For a Mer so large, his size clearly didn't hinder his ability to metaphorically cut through a small fishing boat with ease. He hoped it was metaphorically. Rodimus took a deep breath when his head broke the surface, his chest was pressed against that of the large Mer's. When Magnus pushed away and dove again, he continued his thought. 'It's their *Mating Ritual*' Rodimus choked at the memory. The sounds of the human struggling to breath brought Magnus to the surface. "Rodimus, are you okay?" "Mmmhmmm. What was that?" "What was what?" The Mer was oblivious. "Down there, with the twirling?!" "It was.. it was a ritual." "The mating ritual between Mers?" "What? NO! It was-- never mind. Anyway, it was not the mating dance!" "..." "..." "Hey Mags?" "... yes?" "What's your home life like?" "What?" "You know, what's why pod?" "I-" Rodimus cut Magnus off when he pulled his phone - which was ringing - from his pocket. Thank God it was water proof, he thought he'd left it on the beach. He answered the call. "RODIMUS!!!" Ratchet. Quelle surprise. "RODIMUS, YOU LITTLE GLITCH!!!! WHERE ARE YOU!!??" "Whoa, whoa. Ratchet, calm down. What's wrong?" "YOU UP AND LEAVE IS MY PROBLEM!! BRING MAGNUS BACK NOW, HE IS STILL HEALING!!" Even though the Mer's cast had been removed during the scuffle, Ratchet still treated him as though he was on death's door. "Ratchet, he's fine. We're just out for a swim!" "YOU'VE BEEN GONE FOR HOURS!!" "What!?" Rodimus checked the clock on his phone, and.. damn. "THAT'S RIGHT, YOU LITTLE SHIT! GET YOUR ARSE AND THAT MER'S TAIL BACK TO SHORE OR SO HELP ME I'LL CRIPPLE YOU FOR LIFE!!!!" That was enough to get Rodimus worked up. "ALRIGHT!! Geez, you'd think I was just a kid!" "YOU ARE, RODIMUS!!" "RATCHET, I'M 20 YEARS OLD!!" There were some agrivated huffs on the other end, some murmurs, shuffling and then Springer was talking to him. "Hi." "Hi." "So, did you and Mags enjoy yourselves?" "Yeah?" "Good, hold on, Drift wants to talk to you." "Okay?" More shuffling and murmurs on the other end before the swordfish Mer took over the call. "Hi!" "Hi?" "What was it like?" "What?" "The swim, you wouldn't have just gone out for any old reason. It was beacuse it was with Maaagnuus~" "Shut up!" "Hehehehe..." There were more murmurs on the other end, agrivated sounds no doubt coming from Ratchet, SPringers voice yelling and then Swerve took over. "Oh.My.God.Spill the tea, Sis! Was it everything you imagined it would be?" "What?" "Swimming with your crush~" Rodimus sputtered before answering. "W-I--Shut up!" "What?" "How did you know?" "It wasn't hard. You act all weird around him. Humans are strange when in love, and buddy, geez.. Let's just say that it wasn't a good look for you. Smitten and all that scrap." "Thanks for the tip." "You're so welcome. Oh, GTG." "What?" "GTG. It means 'Got to go'." Swerve explained. "Ratchet is having a fit so I got to hand you over now. BYE!! Tell us all about it when you're back!" And with that, the bubbly Mer's voice was replaced with the irritated grunts of Ratchet. "Get back to shore! NOW!!" "Alright, alright. Jeez. We'll see you soon." He ended the call. Rodimus rubbed the space between his brows, he was in so much trouble when he gets back. "Assuming that was Ratchet?" Magnus deadpanned. "Yup. We gotta get back to shore, or else Ratchet is gonna have my hide mounted on his wall." The Mer nodded and offered his back to the human again. Rodimus latched on, and they swam home. Rodimus listened to the Mer's heartbeat through his back. It was a nice rhythm. Ba-bum, ba-bum, ba-bum, ba-bum. Was it the comfortable beat of Magnus' heart rate, or the gentle sloshing of the waves that lulled him to sleep on Magnus' back, he didn't know. Whatever it was, it one of the best sleeps he'd had in years. ~~~~~~X Rodimus woke the next morning by the timid splashes of water against his pale face. He cleared the blurriness from his eyes and noticed where he was. He wasn't in his bed at home or on the sofa in the staff room. Where was he then? "Good morning, Rodimus." Whispered Ratchet's voice from above. He looked up and saw Ratchet's greeny-blue eyes looking at him expectantly. "Not gonna lie, I was expecting you to be a little more quick and spritely today." "Why?" Rodimus inquired. "Seriously? You've forgotten already?" "What?" "Rodimus, today's the fundraiser. You've had it planned for weeks!" The memories hit him like a tidal wave. Swimming with Magnus, planning with the resident Mers, the girl scouts... oh boy. "QUICK!! Ratchet, what time is it?!" "Umm," Ratchet pulled his sleeve out of the way to reveal a black and gold watch. He squinted as he read the time. "Just turned quarter past nine." Oh. Shit. Rodimus squirmed, trying desperately to get up. When he couldn't, he started to panic. His gaze darted to what mysterious obstacle would be forcing him down, only to be met by a practically glowing gaze. Electric blue rings and a black sclera looked deep into his own dark blue eyes. "No need to panic." Came the melodious voice of Drift. "You fell asleep on Mags' back when out at sea. Ratchet put you in the back with us and you wrapped around me since Mags was still cold from the water. When we got back, you wouldn't let go, so Grouchy over here just dropped you into my pool and left." The swordfish Mer explained. He lifted his arm, the obstacle that had Rodimus pinned, and watched as Rodimus got to his feet. Now free from his scaly prison, Rodimus ran to his car. It was still in the parking lot from two days ago. Hmm. He popped the trunk and took out an orange T-shirt decorated with flames. He took the soggy one he had on, off and swiftly put on the flame shirt. He ran back inside. Okay, now that that was sorted out, he could start the preparations for the fundraiser. "Ratchet! Could you go down to the store room and get some fold-up tables?" Ratchet nodded, hurrying down the hall. Roddy addressed the rest of the Mers. "You guys go to the community beach, that's where the fundraiser is going to be held. Percy, get your cards done. Racers, ready your metaphorical engines. SIngers, warm those vocals! If we're doing this, we're doing it right! For the Lost Light!!" "For the Lost Light!" And with that, they dispersed: Rodimus assisted Ratchet with the fold-up tables and the Mers prepared for the humans to arrive. Perceptor was reciting his fun facts to First Aid and Nautica helped Rewind, Chromedome and Magnus with the lyrics to the songs they were learning. By 09:48, everything was set up and ready for the visitors who were scheduled to arrive at 10. "We did it, guys!" Rodimus cheered, high-5ing First Aid and giving Nautica a quick hug. Ratchet gave a faint smile when Drift came closer and started nuzzling his leg. "Ultra Magnus?" Came Nautica's voice. The large Mer looked over to the human from his place on the top of a large boulder, nodding for her to continue. "Rodimus told us that you could play an instrument." The whale Mer seemed startled by her forwardness, glancing Rodimus a puzzled look. "We all pitched in to get you this." She held out a ukulele, decorated with stickers and gorgeous variants of colours no doubt painted by Nautica. He looked at it in awe as she handed it over to him. "Why?" Ratchet took over for her. "Rodimus said you loved to play it, that your mother taught you. We thought that you'd want to keep that piece with you." The Mer smiled, holding the small instrument closer to his chest. "What are you waiting for?! Try it out!" First Aid said from his place beside Springer. Magnus strummed the instrument, cherishing the vibrations it sent through his body. Rodimus smiled at the sight and walked over to him. "Do you think you could sing that song from back at the concert? The crowd went wild last time!" The whale Mer nodded again, prompting Rodimus to punch the air with his fist. "I hate to ruin such a joyous occasion, but I do believe that people are arriving for Rodimus' fundraiser." Came Rung's voice, calm as ever through the office frame. Ratchet and First Aid scuttled to join him at the front door to welcome those that came, whilst Rodimus, Nautica, First Aid and Nightbeat stayed on the community beach. Rodimus and Nautica were talking with the racer Mers about when they wanted to start. "When do you think you will be ready to start?" "Well, you need to be able to welcome everyone, prepare for donations, announcements and so on, sooo.... Give us about 45 minutes?" Skids replied. "Done." The barracuda Mer gave him a toothy grin before diving with the others. Ratchet came back upstairs with a small crowd in tow. There were small children; ranging from about 2 - 7, adults both male and female. It was nice to see these people, the Lost Light Mer Rehabilitation Centre hadn't had this many visitors in what felt like years. Parents with children went over to Percy to talk to the Mer about his species. Some went over to talk to the racers but what caught Rodimus' eye was the three girls that looked oddly familiar. Rewind, Chromedome and Magnus bent down to them. From what Rodimus could see through the crowd was the taller one had long red hair, the other had pigtails with pink highlights and the shortest had a dark brown ponytail. They giggled when the Mers started cooing and chirping at them. Then it clicked. The girl scouts! Miko, Marissa and Verity. They must have seen the posters with their parents and persuaded them to come. When Rodimus looked over again, the three girls were taking pictures with the Mers. How sweet. A quick white flash, then Rodimus watched as the girls waved at the Mers and left to go see the other areas. Chromedome slipped gracefully back onto the large boulder, then helped Rewind up. Magnus stayed on the floor, seemed to have noticed Rodimus staring. Taking his cue, Roddy bounced cheerfully over to the boulder, twisting his legs so he was sitting cross-legged in front of the whale-Mer. The corners of Magnus' mouth twisted up slightly, his trance-like eyes gleaming in the daylight. "Hi." Rewind waved above the blue Mer's head. Yay, Ratchet isn't the only one to ruin moments. Ratchet and co. - moment ruining masterminds. He trained them well. Rodimus smiled awkwardly and waved back. Rewind was now joined by a peering Chromedome, the ray Mer looking curiously over Magnus' large white shoulder. "You guys going to be ready soon? The racers are due to start in about half an hour and we don't want people getting bored an wishing to leave before then." Rodimus reminded. "We're ready whenever you can start the music." Chromedome answered. Rewind nestled into the crook of his neck and then nodded cheerfully. "Alright then, which song should we start with?" "We can go from song 1 down the list...?" Magnus looked over at the Mer couple before confirming. "Mmhmm." "Fine with me." "Alrighty then! I'll say an announcement, start the song and then let it play automatically. Just call me if you need anything!" Rodimus took off the behind the door to Ratchet's office. Pressing a large orange button, Rodimus spoke into the small tilited microphone resting on the counter, "Hello everyone! Are we all enjoying ourselves so far?" There were a few cheers before Rodimus continued, "Good, good. Well, the Lost Light is very lucky to have you all here today! Now then, we have 3 Mers today who have graciously offered to sing for you today! Let's show them some love!" More cheering, "Thank you, thank you. Don't forget to donate before you leave, every penny goes towards keeping this place open! Enjoy the music!" Roddy clicked the button again and the soundtrack started to play. The soundtrack consisted of: 1\. Pretty Shining People by George Ezra 2\. I'm on top of the World by Imagine Dragons 3\. Counting Stars by OneRepublic 4\. I can do anything better than you (Chromedome and Rewind with Magnus in background) 5\. I don't know my name (Mags' original using his new ukulele) *No backing track for this one* The music for the first song began whilst a few people gathered around the singing Mers. 'Hey pretty shining people!' The three of them sang in unison, slightly accented voices carrying through the cove. The crowd started to cheer and whistle in applause, the *clinks* of money becoming more and more audible as the song preceeded. 'Took it in turns, to dream about the lottery, and what we would have done if we had, entered and had won...' The groups of people started shifting their weight to the beat of the music, singing along. 'Why why, what a terrible time, to be alive, If you're prone to overthinking and, Why why, what a terrible time, to be alive, If you're prone to second guessing and... Hey pretty smiling people! We're alright together and alright together...' Rodimus couldn't help but admire the way the Mers practically tranced the people into donating more money. Just, wow. He'd have to remember to thank them later. That's when he realised the music had faded out and the 'small' crowd had grown significantly. Slapping their hands together to the point where it must have hurt, whoops and whistles seeping into the air. The pink tint to Magnus' face was noticable. The second song was beginning to become audible. This was going to be a good day. ~~~~~~X The fundraiser was over, it had been a good day. Rodimus had taken pictures of people with the Mers. The race was amazing, Blurr coming first by a long shot. People loved it. Now, the crew is sat in a circle, counting the money. Ratchet came clean once everyone else had left: they were going to lose the Lost Light to the council unless this worked. "Ratchet," Nautica began, "How much money do we need?" "Approximately $2,750." "How much do we have?" "$2,623." "That's it then.." Nightbeat began. "We've lost the Lost Light...." Rodimus bowed his head in defeat. It didn't work, they'd lost. All of it. No. Rodimus pounded his fist on the tiled floor of the staff room indignantly. He wasn't giving up yet. "Rodimus-" Magnus began. The Mer was resting most of his weight against Rodimus' left, surprised when the human reacted aggressively. "No!" Rodimus retaliated. "I'm not giving up! We can't lose her, we can't lose the Lost Light!" "I agree." Rung interjected. They'd forgot he was there, blending into the shadows like a ninja. "The Lost Light is far too dear to all of us to lose to the council. We are going to find a way to get that extra money! Perceptor!" Rung addressed the red scaled Mer. "How much money do we still need?" Perceptor paused beofre answering, Rodimus swore he could see the metaphorical gears working inside the Mer's head. "$127." "Great. We'll go down to the beach first thing in the morning, put on more small shows and activities, announce the story and get to work. Care to say it for us Rodimus?" "TIL ALL ARE ONE!!" ~~~~~~X They all slept in the staff room that night. Together. Enjoying what remaining time they could spend in the centre. Mers and humans together. Since when is the Lost Light ever normal? Early that morning, they gathered their stuff, shoved into the back of the Lost Light's truck and headed off to Liberty's Peak. Liberty's Peak was the island's most beautiful beach and had many visitors daily. This was a guaranteed tourist trap, maximizing the possible amount of donations for the centre. When they arrived, the beach was already full, packed with families with children in rainbow swimming outfits. Rodimus helped Rung, Ratchet and Nautica set up their camp by a small market, on some rocks. They set down a red and white tartan blanket along the sand and a large yellow umbrella wedged between the boulders. They, together, helped the Mers down onto the blanket, put out a hat for donations and grabbed some food from the carts nearby. The morning sun was beating down on them, making even the simplest of tasks almost impossible. "It's way too warm..." Rodimus whined. He had taken off his T-shirt and was now sporting just his red shorts. "I know, we should have checked the weather report or brought a fan or- or a bucket of cold water or something." Nautica agreed. She was wearing her purple bikini and blue sunglasses over her eyes. Rodimus looked over to underneath the umbrella, where Drift and Magnus lay. The two had their tongues out, panting, cold, wet blankets covering their scaly tails. Rodimus chuckled. "You two okay?" He asked. Drifted nodded pathetically and Magnus gave a low whine. The other Mers were playing in the ocean, messing together in the shallow cove. People on the beach that were also playing in the water were giving them a wide berth but with the playing they were doing, they didn't seem to have room to care. Magnus and Drift decided to stay under the shade to limit burns. Magnus rolled over and Drift's giant ears twitched, prompting Ratchet to scratch behind it. Rodimus rubbed Mags' stomach with the heel of his hand, causing the Mer to purr loudly. Ratchet stood up. "I'm going to get a drink from the carts over there, anyone want anything?" He asked. Rodimus stood up as well. "I'll come with you." Together they walked over to the small red trolley. "Hey 'Gate!" Rodimus called to the young woman standing behind the cart. "Hey Rodimus, Ratchet! What can I get ya?" "Just some waters thanks." "Coming right up." The young woman handed Rodimus and Ratchet four plastic cups full of cold water, an ice-cube in each. Ratchet nodded at Tailgate before wandering back under the umbrella , handing a cup to Nautica and Rung, keeping one for himself and Rodimus. "Thanks," Nautica said, smiling at him before taking a sip, "Might be too warm to raise money today.." She admitted. "Nah. We'll find something that doesn't make us warm!" Rodimus insisted, holding the cup to Magnus' lips so the Mer could take a sip, an action repeated by Ratchet for Drift. Magnus abrubtly stopped drinking from the cup and turned away, eyes fixated on a spot in the market. Rodimus followed the Mer's gaze, finding a small little girl. Her hands were balled into fists, hiding most of her face, but if Rodimus didn't know any better, he'd say she was lost. "Go get her, I know her." Magnus said, looking up at him. Rodimus nodded, got up and moved towards her. She looked at him with widened eyes when he kneeled down besides her. "Sorry to have startled you," he began, "but you seemed lost. Want to come over here with my friends until your parents find you?" He pointed over to the yellow umbrella wedged between the rocks and saw the little girl's eyes dart around their camp, her gaze softening when she saw Magnus. She nodded and walked towards the Mer. "Hello, Verity." Magnus said upon the child's arrival. "Are you okay?" She nodded. Nautica gave a satisfied gasp once she had finished her cup of water, prompting the girl's attention. She gasped. "*GASP* I know a cool trick with cups like that! Mind if I..." She trailed off, referring to the cup in Nautica's hand. Seeming a little caught off guard by the girl's sudden forwardness, she handed the cup to Verity, stuttering. Verity took the cup and planted it rim-down on a rock. She clapped her hands twice, tapped the rock's surface three times and flipped the cup repeatedly. It was a mesmerising scene, the action a small cycle with no end. Rodimus broke his gaze with Verity's skilled hands to look at Magnus. The whale Mer was laying on his stomach, hands hlding his head and elbows propped up on the blanket they sat on. The Mer was completely engrossed, eyes wide with wonder and innocence. He snapped out of his daze quite quickly though, the pearly white finials that ran up his head twitching. He was listening. To the beat the cups made against Verity's hands and the surface of the rock. The cycle started from the beginning. Magnus flapped his large blue tail and white hand against the rock, nodding his head to the rhythm. "I got my ticket for the lo-oo-ong way 'round, Two bottle o' Whiskey for the way, And I sure would like some sweet company, And I'm leaving tomorrow, Whataya say?" The Mer say in his beautiful voice, gravelly; yet smooth and soft. The market place suddenly got rather quiet, but Magnus continued anyway. "When I'm gone, When I'm go-oo-one! You're gonna miss me when I'm gone! You're gonna miss me by my hair, you're gonna miss me everywhere, ohh! You're gonna miss me when I'm gone!" Rodimus only realised he was lightly drooling when Ratchet elbowed him. "I got my ticket for the long way 'round, the one with the prettiest of views, it's got mountains, it's got rivers, it's got sights that give you shiver-ers, but it sure would be prettier with you~" Clangs of money being thrown into the hat on the floor pulled Rodimus back to reality. They had an audience. "When I'm gone! When I'm go-oo-one! You're gonna miss me when I'm gone! You're gonna miss me by my walk, You're gonna miss me by my talk, oh~ You're gonna miss me when I'm gone." The few people that had gathered around applauded the small performance, impressed. Magnus' cheeks tinted a light pink from blushing at the praise whilst Verity's face was practically split in two from smiling so wide. The crowd dispersed, revealing $23 in the little black hat. Rodimus swung his arm around Magnus' shoulders, pulling the blue Mer closer. He gave a low purr, nestling his head into the crook of Roddy's neck. A distant clicking caught the groups attention. They turned around and saw Swerve and Springer scooting themselves up the beach, a wide path being created by people that didn't wabt to get too close. "Hiya!" Came Swerve's shrill cry of hello. Nautica gave a wide, sweet smile and gently waved her hand in the warm breeze. Ratchet nodded and Drift wafted his scaly tail in hello. Rodimus watched as Ultra Magnus brought his large, white hand up in a half-assed attempt at a wave. It was just too warm to do anything today, huh? "Thought we'd head back up, heard Magnus singing and some weird tapping beat. Wa' that you, little legs?" Springer asked, nudging Verity under her arm. She giggled and held his pale green face in her palms. "You had the right idea though, no matter how hard Ratchet tries to hide it, we all know that the centre is in danger. Raising money like this is a good idea!" Swerve commented, his warm voice was music to the ears.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed reading my first 'real' fic, I had so much fun writing it!
> 
> The song Magnus sang at the community beach was: Song of the Sea: Lullaby  
Lyrics
> 
> [Verse 1]  
Hush now, my Storeen  
Close your eyes and sleep  
Waltzing the waves  
Diving the deep  
Stars are shining bright  
The wind is on the rise  
Whispering words of long lost lullabies
> 
> [Chorus]  
Oh, won't you come with me?  
Where the moon is made of gold  
And in the morning sun  
We'll be sailing  
Oh, won't you come with me?  
Where the ocean meets the sky  
And as the clouds roll by  
We'll sing the song of the sea
> 
> [Verse 2]  
I had a dream last night  
And heard the sweetest sound  
I saw a great white light and dancers in the round  
Castles in the sand  
Cradles in the trees  
Don't cry, I'll see you by and by
> 
> The song he sang at the Karaoke thing was: I Don't Know my Name by Grace VanderWaal, it wasn't an original by myself, it was written like that to make sense, since why would a wild Mer know human music?  
Lyrics:
> 
> I don't know my name  
I don't play by the rules of the game  
So you say I'm just trying  
Just trying  
So I heard you are my sister's friend  
You get along quite nicely  
You ask me why I cut my hair  
And changed myself completely  
I don't know my name  
I don't play by the rules of the game  
So you say I'm just trying  
Just trying  
I went from bland and popular  
To joining the marching band  
I made the closest friends  
I ever have in my lifetime  
I am lost trying to get found  
In an ocean of people  
Please don't ask me any questions  
There'll be a valid answer  
Oh I'll just say  
That I don't know my name  
I don't play by the rules of the game  
So you say I'm just trying  
Just trying  
I now know my name!  
I don't play by the rules of the game  
So you say, I'm not trying  
But I'm trying  
To find my way


End file.
